Mobile Version Subscribe Issue Archive Contact Us About Us Advertise

November 25, 2002 Issue of PRWeek

EDS embarks on a new PR path as Uzzi departs to launch own firm

DALLAS: High-ranking communications executives at Electronic Data Systems (EDS) will move up the ladder when their boss, SVP Don Uzzi, steps down at the end ...

Opinion leaders unite to shift Saddam focus in US

WASHINGTON: An eclectic cadre of opinion leaders has formed a new group in an effort to make Americans think less about the threat posed by ...

E&Y unveils inaugural global pharma report at PRWeek conference

NEW YORK: Ernst & Young has unveiled its first global pharmaceutical report, and it points sternly to the need for the industry to position itself ...

IPG forecasts cuts in light of 18% drop in Q3 PR revenues

NEW YORK: PR revenues at Interpublic Group have declined by 18% in the third quarter on a year-over-year basis. IPG's PR holdings include Weber Shandwick ...

HMA points finger at Tenet to stem stock price's slide

NAPLES, FL: Senior executives at Health Management Associates were tired of standing by as HMA shares dropped for no apparent reason.

Boomers urged to plan for retirement

WASHINGTON: The National Retirement Planning Coalition (NRPC) has launched a national campaign urging baby boomers to take their approaching retirement more seriously.

Gateway escapes threat of criticism

POWAY, CA: Gateway managed to avoid controversy when it recently unveiled a two-year-old SEC investigation.

Stratacomm forced to cut back on top auto PR talent

DETROIT: What was once billed as an auto-industry PR dream team has woken up to the cold reality of the PR recession.

NEWS BRIEFS: Edelman hires Jeff Zilka

CHICAGO: Edelman has hired Jeff Zilka for the new position of EVP, director of financial communications in its Chicago office. Zilka had been the managing ...

NEWS BRIEFS: Ken Rabin of Ruder Finn assigned to London office

NEW YORK: Ken Rabin, head of international healthcare for Ruder Finn, will direct global business from the firm's London office as part of a one-year ...

NEWS BRIEFS: Elizabeth Boineau re-establishes own firm

CHARLESTON, SC: Elizabeth Boineau, former SVP for Fleishman-Hillard's Atlanta healthcare practice, has left the agency to re-establish her own firm, E. Boineau & Co.

NEWS BRIEFS: LatinClips launches monitoring service

SAN FRANCISCO: LatinClips, a Hispanic PR Wire sister company, has launched a monitoring service that tracks daily news from 1,300 Hispanic, Latin American, and Caribbean ...

NEWS BRIEFS: Switzer Communications adds two clients to roster

CORTE MADERA, CA: Switzer Communications has added two clients to its roster. Mindjet develops software for brainstorming and planning. The Larkspur, CA company selected Switzer ...

NEWS BRIEFS: Hill & Knowlton working on new launch

CHICAGO: Hill & Knowlton is working on the launch of a new line of prepared entrees from RMH Foods, a Morton, IL-based company. The assignment ...

NEWS BRIEFS: The Brownstein Group selected by university

PHILADELPHIA: The Brownstein Group has been selected to lead strategic branding initiatives for the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Wharton Executive Education delivers ...

NEWS BRIEFS: Dan Pinger PR forms alliance with Makovsky & Co

CINCINNATI: Dan Pinger Public Relations has formed an alliance with Makovsky & Company in New York for IR work. The arrangement will offer Pinger's Cincinnati ...

NEWS BRIEFS: Boelter & Lincoln named agency of record

MILWAUKEE: Advertising, Boelter & Lincoln has been named agency of record for The Milwaukee Mile, an auto-racing track that hosts CART and NASCAR events. The ...

NEWS BRIEFS: Stacey Reineking joins Forsythe Technology

SKOKIE, IL: Stacey Reineking has joined Forsythe Technology in the newly created director of corporate communications spot. She will report to the VP of marketing. ...

NEWS BRIEFS: Wheatley & Timmons becomes PR agency of record

CHICAGO: Wheatley & Timmons has become the PR agency of record in the US for Freudenberg Household Products, a German manufacturer that produces the Roll-O-Matic ...

Detroit looks to get a lot of mileage from Eminem film

DETROIT: The Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau has decided to turn lemons into lemonade.

Most-admired firms put more stock in PR

LOS ANGELES: PR departments that closely align their own goals with their companies' strategic business goals receive greater executive support, have larger budgets, and have ...

H&K opens special practice for trade association work

WASHINGTON: Hill & Knowlton debuted a new practice last week, The Association Specialty Group, which will focus solely on the unique needs of trade associations. ...

PRSA CONFERENCE: Crisis comms experts indicate reporting as area lacking in quality

SAN FRANCISCO: According to a trio of experts, crisis communicators are challenged by a lack of quality in national-security reporting post-September 11.

Litigation PR gets a boost in time of corporate scandal

SAN FRANCISCO: The string of recent corporate scandals has elevated litigation PR to a new level of acceptance and use among lawyers and their clients, ...

Onus is on PR to gain acceptance

SAN FRANCISCO: PR is on the precipice of unprecedented importance and influence, but only if it dares to accept the challenge.

PN and Schwartz execs emphasize brand importance

SAN FRANCISCO: Because brand reflects an audience's emotions toward a company or product, it's a concept PR has a tremendous role in influencing, said Porter ...

Survey says tech PR waiting for recovery

SAN FRANCISCO: With hi-tech communicators expecting a slow rebound in 2003, they are adopting a wait-and-see attitude to spending more on PR, according to a ...

PR Newswire inks deal with Pathfire

NEW YORK: PR Newswire (PRN) has been named the exclusive reseller of news distribution through Pathfire's Digital Media Gateway (DMG) - the direct digital delivery ...

Christian teachers mount campaign

LONDON: The Association of Christian Teachers is creating its first PR strategy in an attempt to raise awareness of Christian values in British schools, and ...

Conservatives looking for comms head

LONDON: The UK Conservative Party is driving ahead with its plans to fill its vacant communications director post as it faces one of the biggest ...

Porter Novelli pulls plug on billboard event after crash

MIAMI: When a fatal, three-vehicle accident shut down South Florida's busy I-95, it was all too familiar for executives with Porter Novelli.

Barclays appoints execs to key roles in NY and London

NEW YORK: Barclays Capital, the investment-banking division of Barclays Bank, made two key communications and marketing appointments last week.

Bush bill prompts Princeton Review to hire first PR pro

NEW YORK: The Princeton Review has appointed its first director of communications as it seeks to exploit federal policies mandating standardized testing in public schools.

Susan Davis to help plan celebration of Lincoln's 200th

WASHINGTON: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (ALBC) has tapped Susan Davis International (SDI) to help promote its mission: finding suitable ways to celebrate the 200th ...

The business of PR means clearly explaining its value

According to the University of Southern California Annenberg School's director of public relations studies, public relations professionals "have won the battle for a seat at ...

Honeywell selects Silverman to head up media relations

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, NJ: Richard Silverman has joined Honeywell as director of corporate media relations. He had been first VP and director, global media relations, with ...

ACFN hires Edelman, Dittus for anti-obesity campaign

WASHINGTON: The US food industry wants to become more vocal in the growing national debate over obesity, and is taking on two PR agencies to ...

Graveline receives Woman of the Year award from WWPR

WASHINGTON: Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR) has named Denise Graveline, communications director for the American Chemical Society (ACS), its PR Woman of the Year ...

THOUGHT LEADER: Integration is central to PR's place in corporate world

A few years back when I was working on a project at Cisco to centralize the corporate and line-of-business PR shops, I researched a number ...

EDITORIAL: The PR industry must work harder to secure a relevant place in the employee comms sector

Employee communications may be considered the (pre-glass slipper) Cinderella of the PR brief, but it has reached a new level of relevance to the corporate ...

PAUL HOLMES: True neutrality between marketing disciplines would be a positive development for everyone

"The days when agencies could give away their big ideas for nothing are over," says WPP Group chief executive Martin Sorrell in a Financial Times ...

ANALYSIS: Corporations prove slow to embrace transparency

The SEC responded to the year of the corporate scandal by recommending new rules for pro-forma reporting. But some have been slow to comply.

CORPORATE CASE STUDY: PR occupies penthouse in Starwood branding efforts

With a supportive CEO and an emphasis on media relations, Starwood continues to rely on PR as it opens several new hotels under numerous brand ...

MEDIA WATCH: Opinions vary on ramifications of Capellas' departure from HP

HP and Compaq had to wage a bitter five-month proxy war to secure the $19 billion merger of the two companies. HP CEO Carly Fiorina ...

MEDIA ROUNDUP: Hotels: More outlets are making room for hotel coverage

Increasingly, the media is looking at the hotel industry as a barometer for economic and cultural trends. As such, finds David Ward, hotel communicators are ...

MEDIA PROFILE: Finding way into Washingtonian is never an easy call for PR pros

Its lofty status among DC's elite affords Washingtonian the luxury of being averse to pitches - especially phone calls - and forces PR pros to ...

PROFILE: Johnson relishes going after corporate wrongdoers

Ken Johnson started his career reporting the news. Today, as comms director for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he shapes it. But in either ...

The looks and the lifestyle

Consumer tech PR is focusing more on the experience of the products, and less on their bells and whistles.

REGIONAL FOCUS: Florida: Ain't no sunshine

With tourism at a trickle, Florida firms are opting to diversify.

PR TECHNIQUE: Newswires: Safeguarding against bogus releases

Distributing a false press release can turn into a newswire's worst nightmare. Sara Calabro looks at newswire security measures and how a breach should be ...

CAMPAIGNS: NM conservation district salvaged at the last minute

PR Team: Rick Johnson & Company PR (Albuquerque, NM) and the Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District (Albuquerque, NM) Campaign: Retain the Ciudad Soil & Water ...

CAMPAIGNS: Unique inventory plays major part in the sales pitch

PR Team: Government Liquidation (Scottsdale, AZ) Campaign: Promoting online military actions Time Frame: July 2001-ongoing Budget: under $100,000

CAMPAIGNS: DKC scores huge hit with efforts to push Elvis album

PR Team: BMG (New York) and Dan Klores Communications (New York) Campaign: Elvis 30 #1 Hits album release Time Frame: January-December 2002 Budget: $250,000

THE PUBLICIST: Securing the perfect publicity shot requires maximum focus

Getting seven principal members of a movie cast together for a group publicity shot is, to say the least, challenging. It's also mandatory.

PR PLAY OF THE WEEK: Anonymous leaks leave analysts all wet

NEW YORK: The business sections of New York's august Grey Ladies, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, have read more like the ...

TOY BOX: RIM offers its latest Berry good idea

Forget phones and faxes. E-mail rules, and Research In Motion (RIM) delivers. The BlackBerry service merges pager and PDA technology for an e-mail station unmatched, ...

BOOK REVIEW: A true perspective on the world of PR

Title: Public Relations Cases: International Perspectives Authors: Danny Moss and Barbara DeSanto, eds. Publisher: Routledge Publishing, London, 2002; 268 pages Reviewed by: William C. Adams, Associate Professor, Florida International ...